Phytochemicals Having Neuroprotective Properties from Dietary Sources and Medicinal Herbs

Abstract

Many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, cerebrovascular impairment, depression, seizures, Parkinson's disease, etc. are predominantly appearing in the current era due to the stress full lifestyle. Treatment of these disorders with prolonged administration of synthetic drugs will lead to severe side effects. In the recent years, scientists have focused the attention of research towards phytochemicals to cure neurological disorders. Nootropic herb refers to the medicinal role of various plants/parts for their neuroprotective properties by the active phytochemicals including alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, phenolics, flavonoids, etc. Phytocompounds from medicinal plants play a major part in maintaining the brain's chemical balance by acting upon the function of receptors for the major inhibitory neurotransmitters. Medicinal plants viz. Valeriana officinalis, Nardostachys jatamansi, Withania somnifera, Bacopa monniera, Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng have been used widely in a variety of traditional systems of therapy because of their adaptogenic, psychotropic and neuroprotective properties. This review highlights the importance of phytochemicals on neuroprotective function and other related disorders, in particular their mechanism of action and therapeutic potential.

Assessment of Antioxidant Activity and Neuroprotective Capacity on PC12 Cell Line of Frankenia thymifolia and Related Phenolic LC‐MS/MS Identification

“…Many lifestyle factors endorse health of the nervous system in trouble by imposing a mild stress on neural cells and demand for phytotherapeutic agents is growing, in view of synthetic drugs that are believed to have certain side effects such as dry mouth, tiredness, anxiety or nervousness, dementia, and pseudodementia [1]. Effects of these synthetic drugs have caught attention from research bases and industries towards natural herbal resources [2].…”

“…Excess of ROS in the body can lead to cumulative damage in cellular structures, resulting in so-called oxidative stress [4]. Neurons and brain cells are particularly vulnerable to free radicals, and oxidative stress is one of the main causative factors in the etiology of a number of late onset disorders [1, 5]. In addition, oxidative stress seems to mediate β -amyloid peptide toxicity by free radical production, suggesting a pathophysiological relation between A β and imbalance between reactive oxygen production and protective system [6].…”

“…A β is the main component of senile plaques and is highly involved in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and impairment activity of several complexes of mitochondrial respiratory chain in neurons and astrocytes [8]. Finding molecules such as phenolics play a major part in inhibition of propagation of oxidative chain reaction and in maintaining the brain's chemical balance by acting upon the function of receptors for the major inhibitory neurotransmitters [1]. These compounds prevent aggregation and attenuate A β -induced toxicity, protein oxidation, and apoptosis in primary hippocampal cultures [9, 10].…”

Efficiency of selected food ingredients on protein efficiency ratio, glycemic index and in vitro digestive properties

“…Oxidative stress at the cellular and molecular level is considered to be a major culprit in disease processes like cardiovascular diseases, intestinal inflammation, cancer, and aging. Many bioactive components of medicinal herbs/ fruits/spices are known to have free radical scavenging activity by the activation of antioxidant phase II enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (Kumar et al 2015). These bioactive components mainly belong to phenolics i.e.…”

Mechanism and biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases: A systematic review

“…Excitotoxicity: 13 Excitotoxicity assumes a key role in intoxication of certain poisons like domoic acid (Amnesic shellfish poison by marine algae), kainic acid, and so on. Excitotoxicity is the neurotic procedure by which nerve cells are damaged and killed by over the top glutamate stimulation.…”